Chapter Text
Sand has found it’s way into your clothes the moment you had landed on Jakku. Every wiggle, breathe or movement you do reminds you that they are there. Rolling slightly to your side and scratching at your loose blouse did nothing to help. When you would resettle the sand would just find its way back home.
During the day it would be damn near impossible to be a hidden sniper on these dunes even at night and with your sand cover more then one of the villagers had casted a glance in your direction. So long as they weren't the target they didn't really seem to care.
You weren't the pilot Poe or Jess or Snaps was. Your level of patience and natural eye made you one of the best snipers, however. This meant you weren't nearly as celebrated as Poe. But while Poe was making heroic poses on his precious X-wing you were waist deep in the foliage of D'qar. General Organa having gotten report of a few bounty hunters that had landed near by. The amount of credits the General or Poe was worth in bounties could set a hunter up for life.
It took timing and a single shot to destroy all three targets. Their ship was still in the Resistance cargo bay waiting for use.
You had lied about why the General had sent you in the first place. Secrets were as common as breathing in the Resistance. The General didn't want Poe to be stressed knowing that there was such a large bounty on him, or that his girl was the one keeping him safe. So when he asked where you had been the lie came unsettlingly easy.
"Some...animal was making noise a bit away. Figured take care of it before the thing gets too close to base." You had said toeing off the boots you had worn for fourteen hours straight.
Poe had wrapped an arm about you from behind. Kissing under your ear and muttering "big bad hunter" before continuing to undress.
That was the last real adventure you had. Having a specialty in sniping but nothing to target left you with one of two jobs: either a guard wondering the base and stuck in a sight tower for hours or a instructor to the newest recruits. Most recruits were youths who had only ever used a small blaster before and would be knocked back by the impact of a rifle.
Poe had either asked you to join because of your talent or because he wanted to spend more time with you. Whether it was one or the other (or perhaps both) your man had described it as the best date ever.
Poe had landed just before sundown. Giving you twenty minutes to trek up the nearest dune and set up. It had only taken you ten; being far away enough so anyone physically coming after you would be seen before they arrive but close enough to be able to run into the fray in a matter of three minutes (one and a half if you were to fall and roll down). You had signaled Poe with a small mirror that you were ready, settling on your tummy and perched on your elbows.
The sun had gone down just a few moments before Poe had diseapered into one of the huts. BeeBee rolling back and forth in front of the entrance impatiently. The light on her head flashed, and while you were too far away to hear, it meant she was beeping about something.
Poe had stuck his head out again and made a large gesture for BeeBee to go keep watch. Her head flashed and she rolled away.
Your sight slowly wandered around the camp. Training on this villager or that box of random things. Mostly just a lot of sand and lot of villagers minding their own business. The only thing that could be considered out of the ordinary would be the ball of white and orange zipping about.
BeeBee had made her third trip to the edge of the village. Stopping for a second she idled on some far away object. Her head twitching like a bird she zipped right back the way she had started. The small indents of her body brought up a small sand wake in her path. Several villages had their feet barreled over in BeeBee's racing to return to Poe.
Incoming lights showed that BeeBee had the right to race away. Lights began sweeping over the sand. First there was only two, then four and then six. You rolled your sights back on to the hut. Poe emerging with a older gentleman behind him. Poe said something and the older man responded. Poe's left pinky and ring finger curled in and his other fingers straightened out. The gun motion giving you permission to kill the hostiles.
Many Resistance members your age grew up on the stories of the Empire and the heroic rebellion that stopped it. In almost every story there were these soldiers in white. Although human they weren't the same as man; for every one was a clone. There's enough of their white helmets and pieces of armor floating around stores that prove their existence to be true. Now the white soldiers were the same as man. General Organna having posted the report showing a drastic increase of missing children and war orphans over the last thirty years. many recruits talked about refusing to fight because of this; not wanting to kill child soldiers and those forcibly indoctrinated. You had forced yourself to push the report from your mind. With so many secrets needing to be kept from the regular soldiers this one report was the horrid truth that was needed. The message was clear. The First-a order had to be stopped before your children were next.
Three dark shuttles landed on the sand a few feet from the village. The small cloud of panic from the villagers rose towards you like the disturbed sand. A few seconds of silence being had before the shuttles began to open. Thick metal slapping the ground and the white soldiers stormed from them.
The first shot came from a random villager. He or she had missed completely. It didn't matter because the second was yours and you don't miss.
The soldiers covered the grounds like water over rocks. The villagers were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. Several started to run, firing blindly behind them in a futile attempt to escape. Any white soldier that began their way towards the running man in a jacket and the rolling ball was dealt with quickly.
Finally Poe got to the modified X-wing. Hitching his foot and swinging the other leg over Poe had long since mastered climbing in quickly. Before shutting the top he made a twirl motion with his right pointer finger.
Poe was planning a fly-around to get you. As soon as he would take off you would grab your shit and book it in the opposite direction. If you were a good sniper and nobody saw you then his quick turning of the ship would confuse the enemy. He would then briskly land and you would climb in and then both of you are gone.
Once, twice, three and four times you fired. The white soldiers being tossed back by the impact to their chests and heads. Your shoulder was starting to feel it from pressing too harshly into the gun but it was nothing but a dull feeling. You were too far in the zone to possibly notice anything but what you were targeting. Training in on the soldier with a flame thrower you fired into the gas filled pack. The white armor being ingulfed in bright orange that had him panicking and flailing around.
A small spark at the corner of your eye reminded you of the mission. Sight panning back to Poe you were too late to stop any of the soldiers from hitting the X-wing's back. Small flames licked at the metal as Poe could only stare in a mix of fear and racing thoughts.
Once, twice and three times white soldiers fell to the sand from your shots. Their comrades thinking nothing of their sudden death and continuing on.
' What the hell are you doing? ' you thought as Poe kneeled in front of BeeBee.
You followed Poe with your sight as he stood and ran on the edge of the village. BeeBee was always so small you could hardly see her with the sights so not noticing her disappearance was understandable. All of your focus was on taking out any soldier that noticed Poe. A quick turn of their bucket heads or a pointing finger was a death sentence.
Poe slammed into a small cover of sand. Any soldiers that saw Poe were now laying on the ground.
The sight wasn't needed to see a final ship make it's landing. A giant black bird its wing tucked in as the soldiers rounded up and gathered the villagers to the center. Thick metal slid down for a walk way leading to the ship.
The being in black marched down the walkway. It was flanked by two soldiers in white. It had to be man under the robes and drawn up hood. Although thick the robes were close enough to show (or, at least, give the outline) of a broad chest and shoulders. Either way it seemed to be the white soldier's leader. The older gentleman that Poe had been with was brought before the being in black.
Poe laid on his stomach to look over his hiding mound. His feet and knees digging into the sand under him. Your sight wondered back towards the black being and the older gentleman. Blazing red overwhelmed your sights, looking up the giant red saber was something from legends.
You were too interested by the saber execution to see Poe shoot up. His heroic instincts taking over and charging forward. One blast being made from the rifle before it is literally stopped in the air. Poe must have been just as amazed as you as he was not moving.
"Dameron, move." You hiss to yourself.
There was no way Poe could have heard you. Two soldiers ran up, the butt of on of their rifles hitting Poe's gut, and grabbed his arms. Your sights followed as Poe was pulled past the frozen blaster shot. Being tossed to his knees before the black clad being.
As the being kneeled you began to search its body for anything that looked thin. The helmet was definitely not going go give, chest piece looked too thick but the throat looked thin enough...
Your fingers curled around the trigger. Feeling the small impact against your shoulder the bright blue bolt whisked through the air. If Poe had moved his head even slightly to the left his face would have been hit and destroyed. Luckily Poe didn't flinch; the bolt zooming right past and into crackling red of a ignited saber.
A gasp erupted from your throat. Panic and fear of Poe having his head removed from his shoulders caused you to fire in rapid succession. Poe threw himself to the right so he was laying flat. While he avoided your shots the soldier behind him made the mistake of trying to grab Poe. The soldier getting hit squarely In the back and falling forward just to be thrown aside by the black clad being.
Three times in succession; every time they were blocked by crackling red. Bouncing away from your target and into the unknown. Your sight following the being as he stood. Now just wanted to get one hit on it. So you began firing in such rapid succession it would be nearly impossible to count how many you had shot. Just aiming for any part of the being that looked open.
Your final bolt ricocheted off the red weapon. It was thanks to the little bit of force laying dormant in your mind that you rolled quickly to the side. The sniper rifle going up in sparks from the direct hit to the body.
There wasn't a chance in the galaxy that you would be able to escape. Two white soldiers had already been making their way up the dune towards you. Yes, you scuffled against them but their armor was hard to fight against unarmed. A hard and well placed kick to one of their chests lit up your ankle in sharp pain. The soldiers had to physically drag you; not entirely because of resistance but every time pressure was added to your ankle it would light up again. Your one good leg just couldn't keep up with the pace the soldiers were pulling you at.
The sand came up quickly as you were dropped to the ground. Poe was still on his knees some feet in front of you. Although he was forced to stay pointed forward he strained his head to look back at you.
The black clad being sauntered to you. Gripping your hair and tilting your head upwards its head tilted slightly. Both of your hands grabbing its wrist that was all but futile compared to its strength.
"You're with him. Meant to protect but failing." The being was definitely a man by the way it spoke. Either that or the mask was altering its voice to sound masculine.
Your eyes snap towards Poe. His dark hair and outlined face the only thing visible.
"Never seen that guy before in my life." You said with uncomfortable ease.
You were a better at lying than Poe. Better than a lot of people in fact, and you might be good enough to convince this...beast that you were just a scared villager.
"Take them both." It said releasing your hair.
Or maybe you weren't that good at lying.